Last night I squeezed into a packed lecture theatre at the London School of Economics to hear Geoffrey Robertson QC present "The Case of the Pope: Vatican Accountability for Human Rights Abuses". Although I approached with some trepidation, I felt determined to keep an open mind and I was immediately reassured by the chairman’s insistence that the lecture was an academic assessment of the sexual abuse crisis. I therefore assumed that although I may not agree with Mr Robertson’s conclusions he would at least, in accordance with the values of academia, construct his case on the foundation of a sound and sophisticated understanding of the Catholic Church and canon law. Furthermore, he would be able to detach himself from any personal objections to the Church’s moral teaching and not allow this to flavour his tone.